In the "100th Anniversary of the National Struggle Award Ceremony", which has become a tradition of the Samsun Journalists' Association, successful people from the world of business, art, sports, politics, and the press were awarded throughout Turkey.

The famous names Özlem Yıldız and Uğur Arslan hosted the award ceremony at the Sheraton Grand Samsun Hotel. The year's bests for 2022 were presented to people, institutions, and organizations in 21 categories.

OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal attended the award presentation program organized for the winners of the Film Festival on Thursday, January 7, 2023. Then, in the evening of the same day, the President's Chief Advisor İhsan Şener, OMU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Mahmut Başoğlu, OMU Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr.  Cengiz Çokluk, representatives of professional media organizations in Türkiye and officials of non-governmental organizations took part in the event.

Also, in the evening, successful journalists in Turkey and Samsun received their awards from İhsan Şener, the Chief Advisor to the President, on the occasion of "January 10 Working Journalists' Day".

At the Film Festival, within the scope of the award ceremony, the awards were presented by Rector Ünal.

Rector Ünal "We will support our valuable young people who have ideas and projects in TEKNOFEST 2023, which will be held in our three big cities, as in Samsun."

Pointing out the importance of cinema arts in his speech, OMU Rector Yavuz Ünal said, "Us Turks made our history, but others wrote it. History came to us in the form of history written by others. Therefore, such short films, documentaries, dramas, and similar genres are artistic activities that we really need. We see these genres as the most powerful tools in education, especially emotional education. TEKNOFEST 2022 was held in Samsun, and a student from our Communication Faculty won the Short Film Competition. It was us, as OMU, who supported him. In this year's TEKNOFEST, we will continue to support our valuable young people who have ideas and projects in this Short Film Competition, which will be held in 3 big cities, because we, as OMU, attach great importance to this."

Rector Ünal also shared his evaluations of the production, which was selected first in the 7th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival by the Turkish World Journalists' Federation and was awarded the best documentary film award at the "100th Anniversary of the National Struggle Award Ceremony".

"The movie showed us the ways to be ourselves."

Rector Ünal emphasized that the film, which is about the liberation of occupied Karabakh in Azerbaijan, reflects the unity and solidarity of the Turkish world, and said, "This success is not the liberation of the land; it shows that a Turk cannot be put to the test with his homeland. The fight here turned out to be the last and strongest punch. Although each of us is seen as a part, we are meaningful when we come together. We also hope that this spirit of unity; will appear on the scene very soon, not only as the rise of the Turk but also as the savior hope of humanity. At this point, it is a precious film in terms of time. It gave us not only the land but also the years. It was a beautiful production that taught us how to be ourselves and showed us the ways to be ourselves. For this reason, I congratulate all my friends who produced and contributed to this idea."

"Academician of the Year Award" goes to OMU Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Cengiz Çokluk

At the award ceremony held after the film festival, OMU Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Çokluk was awarded the " Academician of the Year Award. " The award was presented to Dean Çokluk by OMU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Mahmut Başoğlu.

Dean Çokluk "I am receiving this award on behalf of my esteemed colleagues and friends."

OMU Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Cengiz Çokluk expressed his gratitude to the Samsun Journalists Association, the organizer of the "100th Anniversary of the National Struggle Award Ceremony", with the following words:

"It is truly a pleasure to be deemed worthy of such an award on the 100th anniversary of our Republic. I am receiving this award on behalf of my dear colleagues and friends who work devotedly in our University, especially in the Faculty of Medicine, who showed this dedication during the pandemic. 2023, the 100th anniversary of our Republic, is also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our Faculty of Medicine. I would like to remind this and express my pleasure to receive this award on behalf of my colleagues and friends."